


Dear Father Christmas

by emynn (orphan_account)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Christmas, Established Relationship, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-13
Updated: 2011-12-13
Packaged: 2017-11-14 20:52:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/519398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/emynn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Families are complicated. Severus' is no exception.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dear Father Christmas

**Title:** Dear Father Christmas  
 **Author:** [](http://emynn.dreamwidth.org/profile)[**emynn**](http://emynn.dreamwidth.org/)  
 **Gift Recipient:** [](http://accioslash.dreamwidth.org/profile)[**accioslash**](http://accioslash.dreamwidth.org/)  
 **Other pairings/threesome:** Implied past LM/SS  
 **Rating:** R  
 **Word count:** 2,996, phew! Made it!  
 **Content/Warning(s):** (highlight for spoilers) * Father figures of the good and bad varieties. Allusions to past domestic violence.*  
 **Summary/Prompt:** Families are complicated. Severus’s is no exception.  
 **A/N:** Thank you to D for the beta. As always, you are such a joy to work with, and I owe you quite a bit of wine and chocolate. Thank you to the giftee for some wonderful prompts to choose from. I hope you like it! A very happy Snarry holiday to everybody!

  
** Dear Father Christmas **  


 

Harry swung open the front door, revelling in the sight of the festively decorated foyer and the unmistakable scent of evergreen. He loved Christmas, and now he had reason to love _this_ Christmas even more.

“Deck the halls with boughs of holly!” he called out.

“I’ll deck you if you don’t shut that door immediately. It must be twenty below.”

Harry grinned as he pulled his coat and scarf and entered the parlour. Severus was standing in front of the Christmas tree he had vehemently insisted was far too large for their home but Harry insisted on regardless. It eventually made it in … after several shrinking charms, but that was irrelevant. It looked perfect. “Happy Christmas to you, too,” Harry said, and kissed Severus’s cheek. “Have I ever mentioned how much I love coming home to see you trimming the tree?”

“Hmph,” Severus muttered. “Your nose is cold.”

“Freezing,” Harry agreed cheerfully.

“Naturally.” Severus hung a glistening red ball on the tree. “What has you in such high spirits?”

“Change of plans,” Harry said, and grabbed a golden snitch ornament from the box of decorations. “Ginny’s boyfriend got them tickets to the Christmas Day Quidditch match, so the kids are going to celebrate at the Burrow on Boxing Day instead. They’ll be arriving tomorrow and we’ll have them all through Christmas. Isn’t that great?”

Severus’s arm faltered above the box. “Wonderful,” he said.

Harry grasped his hand. “Hey. Is everything okay?”

“I’m fine,” Severus said. He picked up another ornament and carefully hung it on a higher branch. “I’m only thinking of what we’ll need to accomplish before they arrive. I don’t trust Al around unwrapped presents.”

Harry ignored that. “It’s not just that. You’ve been off all week.” A sudden thought made his stomach drop. “Are you sure you’re okay with the kids being here for the holidays?”

“Of course I don’t mind them being here,” Severus snapped. “They were here for Christmas last year, were they not?”

“Well, Boxing Day,” Harry corrected. “I’m sorry. I just assumed you’d be okay with it since you get along so well with them. But I should have asked first. Sometimes I forget we’ve only been together for a couple of years. It’s okay if you’re not ready to celebrate Christmas with my family yet. Really.” But he actually felt sick. He loved Severus, and when he had heard he’d be able to celebrate Christmas Day with _all_ of his loved ones, he had been ecstatic. He’d just assumed …

“I love you, you idiot,” Severus said. “And your progeny. Why wouldn’t I want to celebrate together?”

Harry shrugged. “You’ve been sullen this week.”

“I’m always sullen.”

“Even more than usual. You always seem to be lost in thought.” Harry gently grabbed Severus by the shoulder and turned him around. He didn’t miss the way Severus’s eyes immediately went to the floor. “What’s wrong?”

Severus sighed. “My parents.”

Harry’s jaw dropped. “Your parents? I thought your parents were dead.”

“You’ve never asked,” Severus said. “They’re alive.”

“And together?” Harry balked. He thought back to the scenes he witnessed in Severus’s Pensieve years ago. Severus had never said a word about them, so Harry had assumed they had both died or otherwise disappeared.

“Yes,” Severus said shortly. “And they wish to celebrate Christmas with me.”

“Oh,” Harry said. He couldn’t quite keep the disappointment out of his voice. “Well, that’s okay. We can celebrate some other time. How about we do Christmas on New Year’s?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Severus said. “I have every intention of celebrating Christmas here with you. But perhaps we could invite my parents.”

“Well, sure,” Harry said immediately. He paused. “Um, do they like turkey?”

Severus swore under his breath and swept his arm across the table, knocking the box of ornaments to the ground, then stormed out of the room.

A quick _Reparo_ mended the couple of ornaments that had broken in the fall. Harry set the box back on the table and went to find Severus. He was standing in the kitchen, his hands on the counter by the sink, staring out the window.

“Hey,” Harry said quietly. He placed a gentle hand on Severus’s elbow, careful not to startle him. “Do you want to talk?”

Severus shook his head, but then said tightly, “My relationship with my father is … complicated.”

Harry didn’t say anything, but rested his head on Severus’s shoulder.

“My mother and I stay in fairly close correspondence, but I haven’t seen her in years. Mainly because no matter how much I care for her, my disgust for my father far outweighed that.” He took a deep breath. “But now he’s dying, and it’s my mother’s wish that we have one last Christmas together. As a _family_.” The last word was tinged with so much disgust Severus might as well have said they’d be spending the holiday eating hippogriff liver while slathered in flesh-eating slug repellent.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Harry asked. “I’ve seen your father. I don’t blame you for not wanting to be around him. Perhaps you can talk to your mother and …”

“My mother never asks anything of me,” Severus interrupted. “Never. How can I deny her this?”

“I just don’t like seeing you this way,” Harry said. He kissed the crook of Severus’s neck. “You’ve suffered enough. You don’t need to put yourself through this. And at Christmas.”

Severus shrugged. “It’s only one day. And you’ll like my mother.”

“I like you more,” Harry said, and pulled Severus’s face down for a kiss.

“Good,” Severus replied, his breath soft against Harry’s lips. “I’d hate to see you do the things you did to me last night to my dear, poor mother.”

Harry laughed and pulled Severus flush against his body. “Yeah? How about I give you an encore performance?”

“I’d say,” Severus whispered, leaning to plant kisses down Harry’s neck, “that sounds like the best idea I’ve heard all day.”

~*~

Harry set down his glass of wine and took in the scene before him. James and Al were playing with their new model Quidditch set in front of the tree. Eileen had Lily perched on her lap and was telling her a story about a Christmas elf. Tobias was smiling contentedly, one hand patting his belly.

And Severus looked like he was about to explode.

“Severus?” Harry whispered, and placed a hand on his arm.

Severus shrugged it off and rose. “Excuse me,” he muttered.

Harry waited only a minute before going to follow him. Just like the other night, he found him standing at the kitchen sink. He held a dirty dish in his hand and was scrubbing it vigorously under the water. “That could have waited till later.”

The plate shattered in Severus’s hands.

Harry came up behind Severus and wrapped his arms around his waist. “What’s wrong? Everything seems to be going surprisingly smoothly.”

“Of course,” Severus said. “My father is a goddamn saint. What a charming scene. We should be on a fucking Christmas card.” He slammed the pieces of the plate down in the sink.

Harry reached up and carded his fingers through Severus’s hair. As always, he seemed to soften under the light caress. “Talk to me.”

Severus sagged slightly. “My father … my father only beat my mother once. He’d come home from the pub utterly intoxicated. We learned later he’d been shagging the barmaid there and she wanted to end things. I was young, but I can still hear the screaming and my mother’s tears. Pleading with him to stop …” He reached for Harry’s hand and clutched it before of him. “My parents’ marriage was never the same. He never hit her again, but there are other ways to be cruel. The man always knew exactly what words would hurt her the most. He preyed upon her fears and insecurities, knew what to stay to make her think she had to stay with him. And I was powerless to stop him. For that, I despised him.”

Harry grasped Severus’s hand tightly. He believed every word Severus said, of course. But it was still difficult to reconcile the frail, smiling man lazing in the parlour after a full meal with the monster from Severus’s childhood.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Severus said. “And it is part of the reason I detested him even more. As miserable a bastard he always was at home, my father always played the part of the charming gentleman amongst others. I cannot tolerate the falsity of it.”

Harry kissed the side of Severus’s mouth. It was as far as he could reach.

“And now he’s sitting there and I feel _guilty_ for hating him so much because he’s my father and he’s dying. But I do, Harry. I can’t help it.”

Harry rested his head on Severus’s shoulder. “I love you,” he whispered. He didn’t know what else to say.

“And I, you,” Severus replied. He finally turned and faced Harry. “I suppose our presence will be missed if we’re away much longer.”

Harry frowned. “I think they can wait another five minutes,” he said, and pulled Severus towards the broom closet.

“Harry?” Severus asked as Harry shut the door and warded it.

“Hush,” Harry said, and captured Severus’s lips in a fierce kiss.

“Mmph!”

Harry pulled away with a harsh gasp. “Have to make this quick,” he said, and reached for Severus’s cock beneath his robes. It was already half-hard.

Severus’s hips thrust upwards. “What do you think you’re doing?” he gasped.

“Right now? Stroking your cock,” Harry replied. “But in a second I’m going to be sucking it.”

“Why?”

“Isn’t that obvious?” Harry said with a grin, and knelt on the floor. “You’re tense. And nothing calms you down like a good blow job.” And with that, he took Severus’s length in his mouth.

Harry loved Severus like this -- hard, desperate, trying frantically to keep quiet while harsh gasps and whispered obscenities escaped from his lips. His fingers gripped Harry’s hair, not to force him, but because he didn’t seem to trust himself to remain upright with Harry’s mouth on him. Harry may have been the one on his knees working Severus to a climax, but there was no greater thrill to him than knowing that at that very moment, he was Severus’s very world.

“Harry,” Severus gasped a moment later. “Can’t last.”

Harry sucked harder, and Severus came with a muffled shout. Harry lazily cleaned off Severus’s cock and then allowed himself to be pulled up into a possessive kiss.

“Thank you,” Severus rasped. He reached for Harry’s erection.

“No,” Harry said. “I’m saving that for later. When you’re fucking me in front of the fireplace while the fairy lights twinkle about us.”

Severus snorted. “Have you forgotten the children are here for the night?”

“There are spells for that,” Harry said as he righted Severus’s clothing and smoothed his hair. “Besides, they’ll be exhausted tonight. Sugar crash.”

“Hmph,” Severus said, his voice tinted with unmistakable fondness. “You Potters will be the death of me.”

“But what a way to go.” Harry kissed Severus one last time and held out a hand. “Ready?”

Severus took his hand. “Lead the way.”

~*~

Harry didn’t leave Severus’s side for the rest of the night. He didn’t say much, but Harry could tell he was grateful. Once he knew what to look for, it was difficult to miss the way Severus tensed every time his father laughed and flinched whenever he touched his arm.

By the end of the night, Harry wanted to deck Tobias, too.

“Severus, what ever happened to that delightful fair young man you used to spend your days with?” Tobias asked.

Harry stiffened. Even though Severus had assured him plenty of times that his relationship with Lucius had ended years ago, it was still a tense subject for them. Harry just couldn’t suppress the spark of jealousy that coursed through his veins whenever he thought of the handsome, wealthy Lucius touching his Severus.

“I don’t know, Father,” Severus said. He placed a comforting hand on Harry’s thigh. “Nor do I care. Our association ended years ago.”

Tobias snorted. “More like you ruined any chance you had at financial security by being your usual surly self. I swear, Severus, you must have the opposite of the Midas touch. Every thing you have that might have potential you destroy.”

Harry moved to leap to his feet, but Severus’s grip on his thigh kept him down.

“Father,” Severus started, his cheeks oddly flushed.

“You can’t talk about our papa that way!” Lily exclaimed.

“Lily!” Harry scolded instinctively.

“Yeah!” James shouted in agreement. All three children stood with their arms crossed over their chests, glaring fiercely at Tobias.

“Children,” Tobias laughed indulgently. “I mean no offense. Only that when given the choice of a wealthy, powerful man and a myopic twit with who doesn’t own a comb, it would seem the correct choice was obvious.”

“Dad’s a hero!” James shouted. “He saved the entire world!”

“Right, right,” Tobias said. “How could I have forgotten? The Saviour, isn’t that right? And he chose my Severus.” He snorted. “Heroes certainly have lowered their standards since my day.”

At that moment, all of the items on the shelves began to rattle dangerously. Harry looked over at Severus nervously. All three of his children had begun to display signs of accidental magic, and with the rage evident on all of their faces, he was worried about what would happen if the situation didn’t remove itself.

“We should go,” Eileen said quickly. “Come, Tobias.”

Harry gestured for the children to stay in the parlour as he and Severus walked them to the front door. Tobias left without another word, but Eileen took Harry’s hand and kissed his cheek. “You make Severus very happy,” she whispered.

“I love him,” Harry said.

“I know,” she said with a soft smile. Her eyes were damp. “Your children are lovely. I hope to see more of them.”

“I’m sure they’d love to see you again,” Harry replied, leaving the obvious unsaid.

Eileen nodded and turned to embrace Severus. “Thank you, Severus. I’m sorry it ended this way. I had just hoped …”

“I know, Mother,” Severus said. He pulled a small phial from his robes. “Just one drop in his food a day to dull the pain. If he lasts more than a month, I’ll brew more.”

Eileen pocketed the potion. “You’re a wonderful son, Severus.” With a final peck to her son’s cheek, she followed her husband.

Severus and Harry stood in the threshold and watched them disappear into the night.

“Happy Christmas,” Harry whispered.

Severus turned and walked back into the house.

~*~

Harry set the last of Lily’s gifts in a neat pile in the corner of the room and turned to Severus. “I guess that’s the last of it.

“Hmm,” Severus said. He stretched out on the couch. “I owe you an apology.”

Harry nudged Severus’s legs over so he could sit on the sofa beneath them. “Whatever for?”

Severus cast him a withering stare. “Come now. You can’t possibly think that went well.”

“Well, no. You were upset.” Harry reached for Severus’s hand. “But it’s family.”

Severus clutched it. “I shouldn’t have asked you and the children to endure that nightmare. It was entirely selfish of me.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “You don’t know the meaning of the word selfish. Severus, you’re one of the most giving people I know.” When Severus only stared off at the tree, Harry added, “You’re a part of my family. That makes your family my own. And no matter how unpleasant it might be, I will always be there right by your side. I’d go through today again in a heartbeat.”

Severus turned to look at Harry. His eyes were more intense than Harry could ever recall seeing them. “Lily called me her papa.”

“Ah.” Harry looked down at where their fingers were laced together. “Do you mind?”

“Not precisely, no. I only don’t wish for her to become confused since our … arrangement is not precisely permanent.”

Harry paused. “You don’t think of us as permanent?”

“Don’t give me that wounded look,” Severus snapped. “You know I meant in the legally binding sense. As it stands, the only things guaranteeing we stay together are your stubbornness and my disinterest in having to move my things out after the hell that was move-in day.”

Harry grinned. “I’d like to think there was a little eternal love in there as well.”

“Oh, naturally,” Severus said with a smirk.

“Good,” Harry said. “Move your legs. I’ve got your Christmas present in my pocket.” After fishing said object from his pocket, he handed it to Severus and kneeled before him. “The kids helped me pick it out.”

“Harry,” Severus said as he opened the box. “Is this–”

“So long as you don’t mind being a papa, I was hoping you wouldn’t mind being my husband as well.”

Severus responded by joining Harry on the floor and pulling out a small box of his own. “I confess the children helped me as well. I fear they may think they’ve gotten one over on us, having us purchase identical rings.”

Harry laughed and pulled Severus in for a kiss. “They know us well.”

When they came up for breath several long moments later, now with twin rings glistening on their fingers, Severus kissed Harry’s hand. “Thank you,” he said, “for showing me what a loving family is like. And for allowing me to be a part of it.”

“We’re the lucky ones,” Harry said.

“Hmph,” Severus responded, but he looked pleased. He cast a mischievous eye up the stairs. “Well, Mister Potter. The children are asleep, the fairy lights are twinkling, and I believe you promised me a shag in front of the fire.”

Harry grinned and straddled Severus’s waist. “That I did, Severus. That I did.”  


-The End-

  



End file.
